Half of the evangelicals who've stopped attending church say they'd come back right now. Not someday. Not maybe. Right now.

That number comes from research behind The Great Dechurching, which estimates that roughly 40 million American adults have stopped attending church over the past 25 years (about 15 million of them from evangelical congregations). It's the largest and fastest religious shift in the nation's history. But the same research also found something churches tend to miss: most of these people never renounced their faith. They drifted—worn down by a busy season, a move, a disappointing pastor, or a congregation that felt more judgmental than loving. Very few describe themselves as hostile toward the church they left.

For churches focused on growth, that's the opening most outreach strategies miss. Outreach usually means finding people who've never set foot in a church. But a large, reachable population already has the language, the memory, and often the desire; they're just waiting for someone to ask. Denomination loyalty tends to hold too, so the barrier is rarely theological.

Three things to try this week:

New Research Ties Giving Drift to Spiritual Formation, Not Income | The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast 

On the Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast, Ed Stetzer talks with Jaclyn Jones, Chief Philanthropic Economist at Masterworks, about findings from the Faithful Giving Project. Jones's research strips away the usual assumptions (age, income, education) and finds that the strongest predictor of sustained generosity is a believer's spiritual formation, not their financial capacity. Casual givers and deeply committed disciples sit at different points in their discipleship, and generosity tracks that gap closely.

For pastors, the finding complicates a familiar instinct: treating a giving dip as a budget problem to fix with a campaign. Jones's data suggests it's often a formation problem showing up in the offering plate first.

This week: Compare giving trends for members active in a small group or class over the past year against those who aren't. If formation and generosity move together, the pattern should show up in your numbers too.

Listen: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

More Men Are in the Pews—Deepening Discipleship Is the Harder Part | Lifeway Research

Men are now attending church at higher rates than women among young adults, according to recent data cited by pastor and author John Simons in a new piece for Lifeway Research. Simons argues most churches aren't ready for what these men are asking for—not just a seat, but wisdom, mentorship, and a higher bar. He outlines five shifts, including building men's groups around honest conversation, pairing younger men with older mentors, and creating shared service opportunities like mission trips.

Simons's warning lands squarely on growth-focused pastors: a fuller men's ministry isn't automatically a healthier one. Attendance can climb while discipleship stays shallow.

This week: Ask your men's ministry leader how many men have a named mentor. That number is a more useful growth signal than headcount alone.

Read Article: 5 Ways to Deepen Your Men’s Ministry

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